Proven

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Sr. Communications Manager of an environmental nonprofit. 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We mobilize businesses to commit 1% of revenue to environmental solutions. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Proven to accomplish?

• Develop and implement a strategic, data-informed social media plan that grows brand awareness, deepens network engagement and fuels membership and donor growth.

SOLUTION

How did you find Proven?

Our network

Why did you select Proven over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Company values aligned
• Other

How many teammates from Proven were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

• Social media strategy & planning
• Content creation, publishing and scheduling
• Reporting and iteration 
• Project management

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• Clearer social media processes and data-informed decision making
• Meaningful growth in reach, impressions, and engagements, with Instagram emerging as a clear engagement engine and LinkedIn building a larger, more active professional audience.
• Clear impact from the September strategy shift once Proven was onboarded.
• From October-December, LinkedIn and Instagram consistently delivered higher reach and engagement than in the first eight months of the year.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Our Proven team is responsive, reliable, and on time with everything.

What was your primary form of communication with Proven?

Virtual Meeting

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Content Strategist Amanda has been the standout of the experience!

Are there any areas for improvement or something Proven could have done differently?

The only thing I can think of is that we were unclear on the reasons behind account changes, mainly the shifts to people on the account in the new year. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Curriculum Director for Curriculum Director for RJAD Project of Columbia University

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

It's an institution of higher learning.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire PRI to accomplish?

• Designing a website to house our curriculum
• Designing a website that is easily usable by academics, students, and community people alike.

SOLUTION

How did you find PRI?

We sent an RFP for our project

Why did you select PRI over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from PRI were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

We are looking to design a website for the Racial Justice and Abolition Democracy curriculum, which will provide access to the curriculum information and to specific class materials, including syllabi, teaching notes, video clips, readings, and other resources. It will also provide mechanisms for input from those accessing the materials (both teachers and students). 

The RJAD website must be easily navigable and have a robust search capability. Our goal is that the website is intuitive and users can browse the content-heavy curriculum with ease. Desired features:

• Embedded videos
• Search capabilities
• Well organized pages for individual courses (core courses, sample elective courses, additional resources)
• Social media integration (sharing pages) 
• ADA accessible 
• Appealing to young adults (college age) and adults. 
• Newsletter registration
• Responsive on mobile 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

At the beginning of the project, PRI gave us a timeline.  We met weekly and were provided with documents and screenshots showing what parts of the project were being worked on.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Everything was delivered on time.  I had a point of contact with who I had frequent communication and who was very responsive to emails.  I received responses to my emails within the hour.  I was also trained at the the end of the project so we I could add content to the site as th curriculum continues to grow.

What was your primary form of communication with PRI?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They really understaood what we wanted to do and the audience we had in mind. I was very impressed by the research PRI conducted to find images and fonts that fit our target audience.

Are there any areas for improvement or something PRI could have done differently?

I was very please with the entire project and the team was phenomenal.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Director of Sales and Marketing for a consumer products brand.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire PRI, and what were your goals?

We brought PRI on to help us migrate our 2015 style website from Magento to Shopify. But they did much more than that. The team at PRI helped us re-imagine the site and made it possible for us to shift from a strictly product-focused site to create a more a lifestyle and event focused shopping experience. With their help, we revamped our images, messaging, and the UI.

It's good to note that we had considered doing this work in-house. But it quickly became clear that we didn't have the expertise or the vision needed to come up with such a great result. The team at PRI provided just what we needed.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

After interviewing a few developers, including our internal team, it became clear that PRI had the expertise to do the work. We also appreciated their smart, down-to-earth approach to the project.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

PRI did the necessary discovery work, assembled the team needed, laid out the timeline and met all the milestones and key deliverables. As with any project, there were challenges to the timeline, spots that lagged here and there but the PRI team was quick to react and get the project back on track.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We had a project manager, designer & UI specialists, copy writer, and systems architect plus consulting from their heads of digital marketing, technology, and art direction.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

We are seeing very good results, increases in revenue and improvement in the key metrics that show that customers are responding positively to the improved shopping experience.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

We had weekly meetings with the team. They used Teamwork as the chief project tracking and communications tool. When we found that lacking and project management slipping, they quickly assigned a replacement PM and got the project back on track.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

We got a website that is both beautiful and easy to maintain. They were realistic about the timeline, the work needed, and the budget required and delivered as promised on all.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

The only challenge we faced was the initial assignment of PM. Once the executive team was made aware, they made a change and got us back on track.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The National Fragile X Foundation is a nonprofit organization for families living with Fragile X, which is an inherited intellectual developmental disability. I’m the director.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with PRI?

PRI helps with our communications support. So, they do web development, social media, writing, and graphic design.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They help think through a marketing strategy like digital outreach, targeting different audiences,  graphic design, and copywriting. They also help with the website’s UI. So whenever we need help, we reach out to them. They also do some technical coding for the site as well. If there’s ever a server issue, they provide IT service support.

What is the team composition?

We have a main point of contact, and there are three other people who work with us.

How did you come to work with PRI?

They work with one of our partners.

How much have you invested with them?

We pay a monthly retainer, but we’ve spent about $200,000 in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2018 and our partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

 They’ve had a huge impact on our organization. They’ve helped us appear more professional and increase our visibility and credibility on the web. A lot of our mission is production educational content, and they help us get that out there.

How did PRI perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re pretty lean. I prioritize a lot of things and supervise, but they handle individual management. Communication is good—we use Slack and Teamwork.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

They offer a fair price and they’re solution-focused. They always say yes and outline what they’re going to do ahead of time.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not really.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Give them some room to be creative and think strategically through solutions.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The American Payroll Association (APA) is the nation’s leader in payroll education, publications, and training. Since 1982, it’s been our goal to increase the payroll professional’s skill level through knowledge and a supportive community of peers. Today, we offer top-rated payroll conferences and seminars, a complete library of resource texts, and industry-recognized certifications.

Our success is achieved through membership. We value APA membership as a shared commitment to improving the work lives of payroll professionals. We empower our members not only through education, but by seeking recognition for the work they do in today’s business and legislative environment. Representing more than 20,000 members, we are the industry’s highly respected and collective voice in Washington, D.C. and beyond.

My role as the Director of Membership Publications is to ensure our members stay informed with only the highest quality articles appearing in our members' flagship publication, PAYTECH magazine, as well as various other digital  and conference publications.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with PRI Digital?

There have been multiple challenges and opportunities whereby we have had PRI has partners. Initially, we were looking to create a brand-new publication for an off-shoot organization we were building called the American Accounts Payable Association (AAPA). We wanted to dedicate education and resources to accounts payable professionals but at the time didn’t offer anything. We needed a company that could assist in creating this electronic publication as well as complement our editorial staff. Specifically, we wanted a liaison who could help us find writers/authors to contribute to the monthly publication while allowing our current staff to continue focusing on current publications.

Next, we needed to build our communication with global partners since we were launching another new publication. Again, PRI was right there. And now, we are excited to be launching podcasts, and PRI was the first company we thought of to offer a partnership with. PRI has also helped with many other projects throughout the company, working with other departments besides my own.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

PRI helped us start a brand-new web publication: an electronic monthly web magazine for AAPA. They also helped us acquire many wonderful resources that we were lacking: the domain name for AAPA, the rights to it, aid in gathering contributors, reviews of all the articles, etc. In addition, they created the monthly email we send to the accounts payable professional subscribers and assisted in marketing initiatives.

PRI also helped us redesign a website for our Executive Director, develop several e-Books and now we are working together towards offering a brand new asset ... podcasts.

What is the team composition?

We worked with their web designer, an editorial liaison, who helped gather articles and authors, and some members of the marketing team. The marketing resources made sure we were sending the strongest email possible to get the attention of both current and potential subscribers.

How did you come to work with PRI Digital?

My predecessor found them while looking for a “one-stop-shop” company, which is a great way to describe PRI.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $500,000 - $1,000,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

It started in 2005 and is ongoing for various projects.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

They are a one-stop-shop that works in several different mediums. They provide creative vision and editorial support, they know our membership, and they understand what we do here better than anyone. They are like an extra arm of my full-time staff. We consider them a partner. Our members have come to know the editorial liaison and are comfortable speaking with him too. Our relationship has had an immeasurable impact, something you can’t put a price on.

How did PRI Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

I have meetings with the editorial liaison every two weeks to go over the upcoming publications. Their staff also comes to our annual conferences. PRI also uses great resources internally to help keep track of their clients' projects so nothing gets missed.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are always looking ahead to the future while continuing to grow their staff. They are also very honest with feedback. For example, when I reached out to them about doing a podcast we were considering, they disclosed that they only have one other client in this area.

They’re deeply engaged in their relationship with us and are always willing to meet our budget. As a non-profit organization, our budget isn’t as big as that of some of their other clients, but that doesn’t stop them in their relationship with us. We appreciate that.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. They’ve always met our requests with professionalism and care.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It doesn’t hurt to ask them anything, so don’t assume. For example, I never would’ve thought they’d be the place to go for podcasts, but I was pleasantly surprised when I spoke with their CEO.

Give them a chance by asking, don’t discount them. They may be small, but they provide so much more than what you see on their website. It’s the same with their pricing; they aren’t necessarily the cheapest, but look at everything they offer. It is well worth spending a little more for the quality and customer service you get from them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a financial services firm with a few different business lines. We have a group of financial advisors on one side, a Master’s funds business—which is five mutual funds—a research publishing business, and a portfolio strategies business line. I’m the marketing manager of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with PRI?

We’ve worked with them for over 10 years, and I wasn’t around when we hired PRI. I’ve worked with them for the past seven years, and, although the relationship changed here and there—in terms of what it is they’re managing for us, how much time they spend on each business line, and so on—it’s been a really positive relationship. We’ve found that they’re reliable, trustworthy, and able to do the various marketing tasks we’re in need of. We’ve leaned on them for different kinds of projects.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Right now, we’re working on a website development project. It may not be the best example, because we haven’t completed it yet, but I can speak to it very easily. We hired PRI to do a redesign project on a site they’d been managing for us for over 10 years. We hired them because we knew that they knew us, our business line, and our offering. We’re rebranding and modernizing the site, to make it mobile friendly and, so far, we’ve been really happy with the design we’ve seen for page layouts. The next step will be coding and all that backend stuff, which I know less about and which we’re really leaning on them for.

We have a retainer with PRI, so there is a bucket of hours every month, and, unless we have one-off projects, we’ll just use those. The website redesign was a separate project, extended beyond the things they normally do. They also do standard website updates and fixes and handle the maintenance of our website. If anything goes wrong—if something happens with our certificate or there’s a security breach—they’ll jump on it. They also send emails for one of our business lines. We’ve recently moved some of it in-house, but we still work with them on one of our business lines.

What is the team composition?

Matt (Web Applications, Support, and Development, PRI) is the one we work with the most. He tends to take a project management role for us, but he also executes many of the deliverables. He manages our Master’s funds website updates, and we also go to him for new projects.

Chintan (President and CEO, PRI) will jump in with new projects, and he oversees the relationship. We also work with a print and web designer, and we’ve gotten to work with her more on this website project. It’s been fun, and I’ve enjoyed seeing how much knowledge she has, in terms of design expertise.

They have support people for each role too. We’ve worked with one recently on some print design projects, as well as with a web developer and backend person, who occasionally helps us with certain coding projects. I’ve been working with another member on some SEO projects recently. Finally, they have a few people that we work with on an as-needed basis.

How did you come to work with PRI?

One of the initial owners of PRI had a relationship with our current CEO. I’m not sure if it was through a previous job or something else. I think it started with a friendship.

We had another website development project a year and a half ago, and we gave PRI an opportunity to give us a proposal. We got bids from three other firms, and we ended up hiring one of those. We felt that we’d get a bit more in terms of design for that particular business line from that other firm. The reason I decided to go with PRI for this website development project is that I know that they know this business line. I also felt that the audience was more appropriate, based on the design work I’d seen. Additionally, going through the headache of working with that other vendor made me realize I felt safe with PRI. We know exactly what we’re going to get with them, and I wanted to take away the challenge of learning a new relationship, and the unknown of what the management would look like after launch.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost is a bit different every year. I think we spend $200,000 a year with them now. The retainer itself is around $160,000, and whatever projects we add to that will push it to the $200,000–$250,000 range in a high-spending year. The website development project was obviously much more than our retainer would cover, so it was a separate project. We’ve spent more than $1 million with them overall.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with PRI around 10 years ago.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

For much of the time, they’ve just gotten us set up for campaigns, events, or whatever it is that we’re doing. I don’t have any metrics, but what I can say is that we’ve continued to work toward modernizing our look, and PRI has been up to that challenge. As we’re trying to move our business lines forward and be more modern, they’ve shown that they’re continuing to learn new things. Although it’s the same people that we’ve been working with for a long time, we’re continuing to change the way we do marketing. I’m not sure I can speak to performance in a quantitative way. All I can say is that we’ve continued to feel that their output is solid and that they’re a trustworthy, reliable firm.

We’ve been really happy so far on this project. I’m very impressed with the design work I’ve seen. We weren’t looking for anything quite as fancy with this website, so we felt that their safe approach would work, based on what we’d seen. We’ve actually been surprised to see that PRI had moved the needle more than what we thought they would, in terms of taking us to that next step. We’ve been very happy with them so far.

How did PRI perform from a project management standpoint?

They use Teamwork as task management software. I don’t love it, but it’s better than nothing. We use Asana in-house, and I keep thinking that I should talk to PRI about getting them on our platform. I know that it’s what they use for all their clients, so it’s an easy way for them to manage it. Most of our communications are online. As soon as someone adds an update to whatever project thread they’re in, we’ll get an email notifying us that they’ve reached out and that there’s something we need to do on our end. That’s helpful for keeping things organized, especially with projects like a website relaunch.

I have quarterly calls with Matt and Chintan, and we otherwise have calls on an as-needed basis. I’ve found it very helpful to have calls during this recent project. It’s a way to regroup and talk through general issues or to make sure that they’re clear on what we’re trying to achieve in terms of a look or requirement on the compliance side. We’ve had more calls recently, and we found those to be very helpful.

It’s been a long time, and the relationship has morphed in a lot of different ways. They’re willing to jump in on whatever it is we need. We used to have a much higher budget with them, but, given the way our business lines have changed, and how our marketing team has changed internally, we’ve scaled back from what it used to be. It’s still pretty significant, and PRI is still our go-to outsourced marketing team.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I feel that they’re very trustworthy and that they’ve got our back. We’ve worked with a few other vendors, including the one I mentioned, where we ended up going in another direction. There was another site I wasn’t involved with where we ended up hiring someone else, but we didn’t feel they offered the same kind of service as PRI. We had a website crash, and the vendor dragged feet to get it back up and running, to figure out the issue and make sure it didn’t happen again. We’ve never experienced that with PRI. They’re very dependable, and they’ll get online after hours or on weekends if we need them to.

Are there any areas they could improve?

On the project management side, although I feel it’s been positive in their most recent project, there’s probably more to be done in terms of setting up regular check-ins and having someone there to make sure we’re happy and to talk through opportunities. One thing I’ve been surprised by is that they haven’t taken it upon themselves to suggest new things. They kind of wait for us to do it, and it feels like, even if we were to shut down a couple of ideas, it would still be an opportunity for them to highlight areas that need improvement. The project manager sometimes helps with that process.

They did try to bring someone in once, maybe 4–5 years ago, and we weren’t that impressed with her so that kind of went away. I think it’s an area where they could step up: having someone solid who really understands the relationship. I don’t mean to take anything away from them, because I do feel they’ve done a pretty nice job of it. It’s more the aspect of checking in to see what our key goals for the year are, and what is it what we could be doing more of. That’s one area I’ve not seen a lot from them on. They’ve rather been more responsive to our requests.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Clients should make the relationship known early on. If they want PRI to be advice-givers and recommenders, they should tell them that. If the client just wants a firm that they can trust and rely on for standard updates, PRI is going to be a great fit. If the client wants to really push the boundaries and have someone who will tell them what they should be doing next, I think they need to ask for that.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Director of Marketing for a boutique tour boat operator based out of NYC NY, Boston MA, Newport RI and Key West FL.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire PRI?

We have used PRI to

1. Create 5 websites
2. Our Branding Guide
3. Our design (Print and online)
4. SEO
5. Website Hosting

What were your goals for this project?

To give the company a fresh new look.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Cant remember the exact platform but it was in a forum of Wordpress developers.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

We started with PRI to create one website. It was a fresh make-over of the company and we started down the road of a Branding Guide. Once our Branding guide was in place we worked on one site.

They were so organized and delightful to work with that we continued to work on 4 other sites together. We then took them on board as our designers for Print and Digital and have teamed up with them on SEO.

What was the team composition?

We had a project manager, Web developer and designer for the sites. Currently have a project manager that will organize where our requested projects go - whether to a designer, the web developer or the SEO team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

We have seen a big increase in traffic to our site and we feel that it is due to the suggestions and work put forth by PRI. Our website is our BIGGEST revenue maker and we have full faith that we are in good hands with them.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Oh Goodness. Thank God for Matt! He is our project manager and executes things in such a quick way that our projects are posted and then are finished (in the blink of an eye!)

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They have warm and honest personalities. They are very good at what they do. On top of being talented, they are down to earth and hard-working.

Are there any areas for improvement?

With what I have experienced with PRI I actually do not have any suggestions except - Keep doing what you are doing!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the director of technology for WITF, a public media radio and TV station.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with PRI?

We had a growing collection of websites that were becoming a burden to manage, so we engaged PRI to create a centralized content warehouse to manage the frontend of our sites. We wanted to make it easier for our journalists to access story data for media assets.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

PRI architected a platform, figuring out how all the data would be configured and how our staff would be able to securely access the data. They incorporated features that place our content into different categories, ensuring it shows up in the correct areas of the sites as tagged. We provided PRI with technical requirements, but they handle the design and development for the WordPress sites hosted on Pantheon.

What is the team composition?

I work with a few people, including a project manager, lead developer, and the president of the company.

How did you come to work with PRI?

I came across PRI while I was searching online for companies with WordPress experience, and reached out to one of their sales executives. He put me in touch with their president, and we talked through the project specifications and came up with an agreement on the scope and cost of work.

How much have you invested with them?

The first phase ran about $25,000–$30,000, while the second was around $15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with them since around December 2016 and had the first site up and running by April 2017 and the second by September. We're about to start working with them on our third site.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

PRI's development efforts have significantly improved internal workflows and efficiencies. Our journalists are able to access story information easily, with minimal training, allowing them to focus more time on doing their job.

How did PRI perform from a project management standpoint?

They've been very responsive and communicative overall. We touch base with their team daily and they keep tasks organized through a project management tool. They've also traveled out to our office to meet with us during the earlier stages of the work.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They took a risk by taking on our project, since they had to give up some control and allow us to influence the design more than is typical. They've effectively delivered a system that works very well; it's transformed the way we organize content and helped us provide a consistent experience for our users.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don't have any complaints at this point.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I don't really have advice other than to give them a shot. I can't speak highly enough about their team's technical expertise and professionalism.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the co-founder of MUTTS.com, which is the public arm of the MUTTS comic strip and brand.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with PRI?

Our initial goal with PRI was to create a website for the brand, but we eventually looked to expand into social media as well.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

PRI built our website from start to finish. At each step of the process we had meetings to see the progress and give any feedback we might have, but they developed the entire site themselves. Since the initial build, we have gone through multiple iterations of the site and added features such as live chat for users. We have also added an e-commerce site that was initially built by PRI in-house before the creation of turnkey solutions when we switched to WooCommerce. PRI designs and sources most of our items available for sale, and they manage our social media presence, including all posts and comments. They also established Shopify on our Facebook page.

What is the team composition?

We work with a project manager, two to three developers, and a social media team.

How did you come to work with PRI?

We actually lived in the same neighborhood as PRI’s previous CEO who has since passed away. He approached us one day to encourage us to build a website and we decided to follow his advice.

What is the status of this engagement?

We have been working together since 2008.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Since the creation of the online store, we have been able to completely finance our development services through its sales. We have very passionate readers who are able to communicate and interact with the brand through the website and on social media, and both have increased our awareness and global presence. Our users consistently react positively to our site and social media posts, and we rarely receive negative feedback on anything PRI handles.

How did PRI perform from a project management standpoint?

They are world class. We have multiple demands in a variety of areas, but they are always flexible and available to help. They are so quick at responding to our needs, I often feel as though we are their only clients. They consistently set aggressive goals, and they always achieve them. We communicate daily over Slack, but we also have weekly team calls to check-in.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The most impressive thing about PRI is their heart. They really believe in our brand and clearly love their jobs. That translates into a responsive and creative team that is there for us proactively whenever we need them.

Any advice for potential customers?

My advice would be to trust them and work with them as closely as possible. PRI is very flexible at delivering what you want, but you have to make sure those desires are clear to them.